Shell-shocked GM retirees react: 'This is a knife stab in the back'
Agent00J submitted on 7/16/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 8:36:55 AM
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After years of getting generous coverage, retirees from salaried jobs at General Motors Corp.
reacted angrily Tuesday to the announcement that GM was ending their health benefits.
"I'm disappointed in the lifetime promise GM made to us," said John Fleming, 67, of Rochester Hills, a retired information system auditor. "We've been wiped off the books completely."
Fleming was among the shell-shocked GM retirees wondering about what they'd do next for health care, following the surprise announcement that is part of GM's latest cost-cutting plan.
Effective Jan. 1, GM will end health benefits for 97,400 salaried retirees 65 or older, their spouses and dependents. Retirees will receive an extra $300 a month in their pension checks that could be used to buy health care.
Salaried Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Corp. retirees had to make similar choices in the past two years, after receiving years of coverage for medical, dental, vision, prescription drug and some rehabilitation services with modest co-pays.
Although half of American employers still offer health benefits to retirees, the trend is to drop retirement health plans for newer workers or freeze coverage for current retirees to save money, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health research organization.
Now GM retirees also must navigate the confusing world of Medicare -- a health insurance plan some find so bewildering that many settle for costlier plans without doing the research to find cheaper, more comprehensive ones.
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